The China Mail - Rosenior says Chelsea owners supportive despite slump

The Blues have fallen seven points behind fifth-placed Liverpool after four straight Premier League defeats and their chances of finishing in the top five look bleak.

Boos greeted the full-time whistle following Saturday's 1-0 defeat to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge after some supporters staged a street protest against owners BlueCo ahead of kick-off.

Chelsea co-owner Behdad Eghbali last week said the club were still behind Rosenior and remained optimistic about long-term success under his management.

Asked on Monday if felt that support, Blues head coach Rosenior, who replaced Enzo Maresca in January, said: "One hundred percent.

"They have been supportive of me in our daily conversations, they have been magnificent in their support of me and the team.

"We're aligned that we know we need to win games of football in the now, but that doesn't go against what we're trying to do, which is give consistent success to this club long term."

Chelsea will attempt to halt their alarming slump at ninth-placed Brighton on Tuesday.

With just three points separating the Blues and Fulham in 12th, Rosenior's side are in danger of missing out on European football altogether.

"We've made it very difficult for ourselves," he said of their Champions League aspirations. "We have to be honest and realistic with that.

"But what we can't do is give up. We have to keep fighting. We have to make sure we go to Brighton with similar attributes to what I saw against Manchester United in terms of our energy, our intensity and engagement to the game, which was good.

"But we didn't keep a clean sheet and we didn't take advantage of the chances, so we need to be more clinical and more ruthless in both boxes."

D.Wang--ThChM